Better Spelling by Word Games

Not going to lie, these days I don’t have much time for playing video games. Most of the time it seems such a waste and I can get way too obsessed… did I harvest my crops?!? Have they gone bad and all my efforts for naught?!? But there are those times I like to keep busy with something that stimulates my mind. I often like to read and crossword puzzles are tons of fun and embroidery travels well.

But I have a tendency to forget to bring these things and then I find myself sitting in a waiting room twiddling my thumbs and checking up on everybody’s Facebook statuses which is cool but totally unproductive. I hate feeling unproductive.

Also I’ve found that now that I am writing daily, my spelling is going down the drain. How the heck does that happen? It seems SO ridiculous. I type in words all day long and I start messing them up way more than I did when there were days the most I’d write was a single email or half a dozen text messages? Ridiculous!

So I downloaded AlphaBetty, free from the Apple App Store (also available on Google Play ) the first word-based “saga” game from King Digital, creator of Candy Crush franchise and Farm Heroes Saga. Right before bed I decided to check this baby out and I wound up playing until I was bleary eyed and making no words of any sense. Turns out the game is fun which is awesome but it is also challenging which is just about the only way I can stay interested in anything for very long.

I figure that AlphaBetty Saga will keep me busy while I sit in the passenger’s seat and my hands have tired of embroidering or drawing. And keeping my spelling mistakes to a minimum while travelling seems a pretty necessary thing! I mean, who wants to get lost on summer vacation because they misspelled something? Perhaps that is a long shot but I’ve got to tell you I’ve spent much time worrying over less!

In the end I’ve found a little game that I can keep on my phone and feel like I’m somewhat productive because I’m improving my spelling skills and keeping my brain active while keeping boredom at bay. Maybe that’s why AlphaBetty is the only game on my phone. It’s the only one I like enough to actually recommend :)

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Hey Allison! I totally get what you mean here. For me, video games are NOT a part of my daily schedule these days. I’m way too busy, plus, I just don’t have much patience to try and learn something that, in the long run, probably won’t help me in life much anyway. So why bother? I’d much rather be doing something productive, like acquiring a new skill, finishing some good books, learning a new language (all of which I am doing by the way) :). And who wants to sit and stare at a screen all day anyway, right?

But this game that you’re talking about looks super fun! I may have to download that for my own iPod. I think my spelling skills have dropped quite a bit too over the past few years. I’m embarrassed to say that the Internet does most of my correcting for me when I type in something for a search engine or e-mail, or even a blog…. Hmmm. Even still, I find myself mercilessly scrutinizing my texts before I post them (as I may have mentioned in a earlier post) because I don’t completely trust even the fancy new auto correct that we have now.

But yes, I’ll download this app and try it and let you know what I think!

And while I’m not much for electronic games these days (as I mentioned in my last reply), I have to admit that there is this game that I have become addicted to and is the only game (so far) on my iPod. It’s called Fortune Street, and to me, it is one of the best games I have ever played. It’s fun, challenging and simply just plain awesome! Here’s the rundown of how it’s played:

If you are familiar with Monopoly and like it, then you will like Fortune Street. It plays somewhat like Monopoly but goes a little bit deeper than that and can really keep you hooked for hours. To start, the game is set up so that you can buy stocks along with the pieces of property that you buy. And like in the real world (great teaching tool for the little ones by the way), the more money that is poured into the stocks, the more money your character obtains and can make all the difference between winning and losing a game. So there’s that.

Another great aspect of the game is that there is more than one board to play on. While Monopoly only has the one, and everyone travels around in a circle (or square in this case) in the same direction, Fortune street has like 20 different boards that you can play on and each one offers different challenges, including some that you have to move up and down from one board to another in a single game. Trust me, it’s not as complicated as it sounds. When you buy the free version, you start with just the one simple board. But if you wish, you can purchase what they call game paks (usually for around $2.99 each I believe) and increase your level of play.

And you know how in Monopoly you have the “GO” space? Well, in Fortune Street, you have a “Bank” space and it’s in a different location for each board. You go around each board and collect the four suits (spade, heart, diamond and club) and return to the bank to get a salary. The object of the game is to reach the target amount before your rivals do, which you can set before each game. So if you set it at, say $10,000, once your assets reach that amount, you head to the bank and you win the game! So it’s not about simply bankrupting your opponents (although you can if they run out of money), but reaching that target amount.

Another fun feature of the game is the use of districts, which in turn, is the heart of the game itself. Each district on each board is color coded and when you buy property in all spaces of a particular district, you can increase the marginal costs of your property and really bankrupt your computer rivals into oblivion by investing huge amounts of money into these spaces. As an example, I once poured so much money into one space in a district that I owned that it came close to $20,000! And I forced all of my computer rivals into bankruptcy because they all landed on this expensive space, hahaha! Instant win! :)

I won’t say any more about it because you have to see it for yourself to really understand (plus I know that my post here is really long, sorry!), but I think that you will really like it Allison. We sort of have the same temperament so believe me when I say that this game, like AlphaBetty, will cure any boredom that you may have. I too need something challenging to keep me stimulated and this game certainly does that. And I admit that I play short little games all the time when I forget my usual reading materials. I play when I am doing my laundry, I play while I’m waiting at the dentist office (a REAL stress relief!), I sometimes play while waiting for my bus to come at a stop, and more! This game is perfect for a math/number geek like me, but trust me that you don’t have to be good at math to enjoy the game. I’ve had it for about 2 years now and has been non-stop fun all the way. :) characters (your rivals) are kind of cheesy, but cute. It’s appealing (and appropriate) to both kids and adults alike. So give it a try and see what you think. I don’t think that you’ll be disappointed! :) It’s the only game that I would recommend that isn’t a piece of crap.

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